Sustainability is Success: How Your Business Can Profit by Producing Positively

Sustainability is no longer an optional add-on for manufacturers, but a necessity. With growing regulatory pressure, consumer demand for greener products, and rising costs of waste disposal, businesses in the manufacturing sector must either adopt effective waste management practices in accordance with Extended Producer Responsibility legislation, or face severe penalties that can include fines, revocation of registration, and even jail time!

Implementing an approach mindful of the circular economy has myriad benefits. It reduces environmental impact, improves operational efficiency, and enhances your brand reputation. It keeps your business above reproach and ensures that it’s allowed to run unimpeded… and you, un-imprisoned.

“At-source” Waste Reduction

The most effective way to manage waste is to prevent it from being generated in the first place. This approach, often referred to as waste prevention or waste avoidance, focuses on redesigning processes, materials and products to minimise waste at the source, rather than dealing with it after it’s created.

In South Africa, this principle is reflected in various initiatives across industries. For example, some local manufacturers have shifted towards lightweight recyclable packaging, reducing the volume of plastic or glass used in beverage bottles without compromising quality. Some retailers are increasingly offering refill stations for dry foods, household cleaning products, and other products; allowing consumers to reuse containers and cut down on single-use packaging. And in the agricultural sector, innovations such as precision farming are helping farmers reduce input waste by applying water, fertiliser, and pesticides more efficiently.

These strategies not only help reduce environmental impact but also cut costs and promote more sustainable business practices.

In summary, these strategies include:

• Optimising raw material usage: Ensuring precise measurements and reducing offcuts can significantly lower waste.
• Switching to sustainable materials: Using recycled or biodegradable inputs can reduce the waste footprint.
• Redesigning packaging: Lightweight and reusable packaging minimises material consumption and disposal costs.
• Turning single-use into many uses: Encouraging the use of packaging containers that consumers already have, keeps those packages out of landfill and lessens the processing burden on recycling companies. 

Efficient Recycling Systems

Recycling should be embedded in manufacturing operations to divert waste from landfills and support a circular economy. This involves incorporating recycled materials into production processes, designing for recyclability, and establishing take-back or closed-loop systems.

In South Africa, several producers are championing this practice. For instance, Extrupet, one of the largest recyclers of PET plastic on the continent, supplies food-grade recycled PET to beverage companies, allowing them to produce new bottles from old ones. In the construction sector, companies like Afrisam use recycled aggregates from construction/demolition rubble in their concrete mixes, reducing the need for virgin materials and lowering their environmental footprint. The various producers under the Mpact Group umbrella play a major role by using recycled materials in their production process, helping divert thousands of tonnes of waste from landfill each year.

These practices not only reduce landfill pressure but also conserve resources and help businesses meet their Extended Producer Responsibility requirements.

Here are the key mechanics of such a system:

• Separating waste at source: Clearly marked bins for different waste streams improve recycling rates.
• Partnering with recyclers: Collaborating with specialised recycling and waste management companies ensures that materials such as paper, cardboard, plastics, glass and aluminium are properly processed.
• Closed-loop recycling: Reintroducing recycled materials into production reduces dependency on virgin resources.

Lean Manufacturing

Lean principles focus on minimising waste while maximising productivity. By identifying inefficiencies in production processes, whether in time, materials, motion or inventory, manufacturers can reduce costs, streamline operations, and improve their sustainability footprint.

In South Africa, several businesses have embraced lean thinking. For example, Toyota South Africa Motors in Durban has long applied the Toyota Production System, the original lean framework, to optimise production while reducing material waste and energy consumption. Woolworths has implemented lean supply chain practices and efficiency programmes in its food manufacturing division, helping reduce food waste and energy use across operations. In the SMME space, The Lean Institute Africa works with local manufacturers to implement lean methodologies; projects have included improving production flow in Cape Town-based clothing factories and reducing downtime in engineering workshops.

These examples show how lean principles can be applied at every scale to cut waste, drive efficiency, and build more resilient manufacturing systems.

These are the principles of the lean producer in summary:

• Just-in-time production: Reducing inventory excess prevents overproduction waste.
• Process automation: Reducing human error and material wastage through automated systems.
• Kaizen (Continuous Improvement): Engaging employees in continuously identifying opportunities to improve processes, enhance efficiency, and reduce waste.

Waste-to-energy Investment

For the waste that cannot be eliminated or recycled, waste-to-energy (WtE) solutions offer a viable potential alternative by converting residual waste into usable forms of energy such as electricity, heat, or fuel.

We explain more about WtE innovations and their circular benefits in another blog post. For now, you can familiarise yourself with some of the local pioneers in this field:

• New Horizons Energy – Based in Cape Town, this facility processes organic waste into renewable natural gas (biomethane) and carbon dioxide for industrial use, helping divert organic waste from landfills.
• Bio2Watt – A biogas plant in Bronkhorstspruit that converts agricultural and food-processing waste into electricity, supplying power to clients such as BMW South Africa.
• Tongaat Hulett – Operates in the sugar industry, generating electricity and steam from bagasse (sugarcane residue), with excess energy fed into the grid during peak demand.

Conclusion

Remember the following…

• Waste = worth. Innovators are turning byproducts into resources, crafting energy from scraps and weaving recycled materials back into production cycles. This shift, driven by collaboration and ingenuity, transforms linear systems into resilient loops where little is lost and much is gained.
• The circular road points forward. As regulations evolve and conscious consumers rally, the blueprint for success based on a framework of sustainable practice will normalise in business. Many major brands and manufacturers have already embraced this.
• Sustainability is success: By integrating mindful practices like refining material use, reimagining packaging, and fostering partnerships for recycling, businesses align with a future where efficiency fuels growth. Reducing waste is an opportunity; to lower costs, build brand trust, and harmonise business needs with the needs of the planet.

Manufacturers that embrace positive, sustainable practices for their waste reduction can improve efficiency, cut costs, and enhance their sustainability credentials. Through strategic partnerships, such as those we foster, manufacturers can achieve real progress towards a circular economy, benefiting their bottom line, and our communities, economy and planet.

Get a free quote and let’s start a strategic partnership. Who knows where sustainability will take your business next?